Editor's Note: In the original version of this article, there was an error, and two stories were placed on the same page. This has been corrected. The Daily Lobo apologizes for any confusion.
The University of New Mexico Mind Institute recently completed extensive research on why teens commit murder. This research has been published in NeuroImage, a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on neuroimaging.
Kent Kiehl, one of the researchers from the New Mexico Mind Institute, said research examining brain differences in teens who murder began after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Kiehl collaborated with the parents of Avielle Richman, a six-year-old who died in the shooting. Jennifer and Jeremy Richman, Avielle’s parents, created a foundation in her name. Kiehl is a scientific advisor on the foundation’s board. It was the conversations with Avielle’s parents that sparked the research, Kiehl said.
According to “Abnormal Brain Structure in Youth Who Commit Homicide,” youth that commit homicide have structural differences in their brain when compared to youth who have not committed homicide.
The authors of the article include: Kiehl, L.M. Cope, E. Ermer, L.M. Gaudet, V.R. Steele, A.L. Eckhardt, M.R. Arbabshirani, M.F. Caldwell and V.D. Calhoun.
“The comparison between homicide offenders and non-homicide offenders showed vast differences in gray matter throughout the majority of the brain, due to significant differences in both overall brain volume and gray matter,” according to the article.
The National Institute of Mental Health gave a grant to Kiehl’s lab to complete the research. The data was gathered through structural MRI data and psychological assessment data, Kiehl said.
“The end goal of the research was to have an understanding (of) the brains of individuals who have committed homicide,” according to Kiehl.
This is the first study of its kind, Kiehl said. This study compares adult males who were incarcerated for homicide to incarcerated adult males who did not commit homicide.
“Ideally the data can be used to develop interventions to prevent high risk youth from committing such crimes,” Kiehl said.
Megan Holmen is a freelance reporter for news and culture at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com, culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @megan_holmen.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
